The Troublemaker and the Bookworm
by PhantomBookworm
Summary: Fremione: how it all began... (AU)
1. Chapter 1

Okay so this is my new favourite ship and I'm just making up fluff. This chapter is how it gets going. All opinions welcome!

~Phantombookworm

"The library is closed."

"But-"

"CLOSED."

"Just five more minutes!"

"CLOSED, Miss Granger. You've got five minutes until curfew, now OUT."

Sullenly, the bushy-haired witch packed her satchel, pushed her chair in and tucked three heavy books underneath her right arm.

"Goodnight, Madam Pince," she called to the librarian who was extinguishing the lights with her wand.

"Goodnight, Miss Granger. I expect I'll see you tomorrow."

The long walk from the library with a bag full of heavy books felt like ages, and, glancing at her watch, Hermione could see that she only had two minutes to get back to the common room before curfew. She tried to speed up her pace but then-

 _RI-I-I-I-P-P_

"Oh, shoot!" She cried, frustrated. Hermione's satchel had split down the seam under the strain on one-too-many textbooks. All her notes and spare parchment flew all down the corridor, not to mention the books she had just borrowed from the library.

 _THUNK_

She could see that one of the spines had split and pages were everywhere. Even worse, curfew had passed and she could hear the slow, wheezy shuffle of the caretaker, Argus Filch, and the slow padding of his cat, Mrs Norris.

"I'm so dead…" she muttered.

 _"_ _Hermione!"_ A voice whispered.

She jumped, her hand flying to her wand, tucked, as always, up her left sleeve.

" _Accio!"_ A different voice whispered, and all her books and parchments zoomed towards, and then behind a tapestry of Ulrica the Ugly.

"Fred? George?" Hermione breathed, barely daring to believe her luck.

A hand shot out from behind a tapestry opposite the one where her belongings had vanished to and she was yanked behind Wulfreida the Revolting just as Filch rounded the corner.

"Who-?"

A hand clamped over her mouth and a voice hissed in her ear _"shhhhh!"_

And so they waited, barely breathing, cramped into a tight, concealed alcove as Filch slowly, so agonizingly slowly past them. All Hermione could think about was the chest she was leaning against, the arms that wrapped around her, holding her still inside the tiny niche that was only really meant for one person. Who was it she was pressed against?

Inhaling deeply, she could smell the a faint acrid tang of gunpowder underneath the wood-smoke smell that seemed to inhabit all Gryffindor robes; after all, there was a wood fire in the common room and a wood burner in each of the dormitories. Definitely a Weasley twin, as she suspected. Hermione could also smell a light sense of peppermint- Fred? He was much better at potions than George, but then George was better at herbology, and you could tell: Fred smelled like potion ingredients, and George often smelt like the fertilisers used to grow the said ingredients. But she wasn't some weirdo who went around smelling people- if you were in someone's company for a while, like over a holiday, then you get used to their specific scent, especially after a long, warm day.

Her mind was wandering. Had Filch gone yet? She was about to reach for the tapestry when a hand clamped around her wrist. Hermione didn't need to look back to feel Fred shaking his head. Turning just her head towards him, she could see him tap his ear as if to say 'listen!'

A few shuffling steps sounded in the corridor and a door slowly creaked shut.

The relief in the air was palpable.

"Oh, thank Merlin!" Hermione sighed.

"I thought he would never leave," George joked, pulling back the tapestry in front of them. He raised an eyebrow at the intimate embrace his twin and Hermione seemed to be in. "Bit cramped, are you?"

Hermione blushed and stepped away from Fred.

"Thank you," she said to both of them honestly. "I really appreciate what you did."

"Well, we couldn't just leave you stranded in the corridor, could we?" Fred said, joining his twin. Hermione couldn't help noticing that he was slightly pink in the face.

"I guess you'll want your stuff back, right?" George said.

"Please!"

George pulled back the tapestry he had been concealed behind, showing her satchel and a neat stack of books piled next to it.

"Oh!" Hermione said, suddenly emotional. "You fixed it!" She sat next to her bag on the stone floor and smiled, a slight tear staining her smile.

"Not just your bag. Madam Pince won't be out for your blood now." George said.

"You-" Hermione picked up the top book from the stack, the one that she had seen split. The spine had been fixed perfectly, and as she riffled through the pages she could see that each was securely attached to its binding. "Guys, they're… they're perfect! Thank you!"

"Well, really it was Fr-" George stopped as he was elbowed by his twin. "Really, it was nothing Hermione. You're most welcome," he said instead.

Hermione stood, tears rimming her eyes. She threw her arms around both boys and hugged them. "Thank you," she whispered.

She took a step back, picked up her bag and books, and turned away down the corridor.

"Fred, why did you not let me-?"

"Let you say that it was my idea? I don't want to tell her yet. It's only her third year."

"Oh, Freddie," George sighed. "You've got it bad, haven't you?"

Fred watched the witch vanish from his sight before replying. "Yeah, I have."


	2. Chapter 2

Hi everyone! This chapter is dedicated to my first reviewer, Fairyflights.

Hope you enjoy!

~Phantombookworm

Next morning, Fred woke late. Dreams of his arms wrapped around Hermione's waist danced in his consciousness until very late last night. Rolling over, he noticed that everyone else in his dormitory- excluding George, obviously- had gone down to breakfast.

"Morning, sleeping beauty," George said, throwing Fred's robes across the room at him.

"Mornin'," Fred yawned, scrambling out of bed. He pulled on his robes and hurriedly pulled a comb through his unruly hair. "What time is it?"

"Twenty-to."

"Aw, damn it." Fred moaned, lacing up his shoes. "I'm hungry!"

"Well maybe don't sleep for half the morning then mate," George shrugged. "I already went down to the kitchens, though, so…" He held out a bacon sarnie and a flask of hot coffee, black, no sugar.

"You're the best, George!"

"I know," George replied, grinning. "But hurry up, we've got McGonagall first, and you know how mad she gets if you're late."

Fred rolled his eyes. "Don't remind me. I don't think my hands were quite the same after she got us to clean all the taper-holders* in the dungeons."

Eighteen minutes later, the two twins were waiting outside the Transfiguration classroom, accompanied by the rest of their year.

"Where were you at breakfast, guys?" Lee asked, lounging against the wall of the corridor.

"Fred overslept."

"George!"

"What?! You did!" George ducked as Fred swatted his head in indignation. He retaliated by throwing a soft punch to his twin's stomach, whilst Lee roared with laughter.

"Weasley, Weasley and Jordan!" A sharp voice sounded from the classroom doorway. "Just _what_ do you think you are doing?"

"Nothing, Professor McGonagall," all three chorused innocently.

"Hmmm," she raised an eyebrow. "Get in the classroom and sit down." As the class silently filed into the room and took their seats, McGonagall strode to the front of the classroom. "So now that the mature students have shown us how to behave," she threw a pointed glare at the three boys seated at the back of the room, "we will start the Inanimatus Conjurus spell."

As the class progressed, Fred felt restless. Yeah, making a chair appear from mid-air would be cool, but McGonagall, as always, was starting small- with buttons. Again.

Suddenly, Fred felt something soft wind around his outstretched legs. Something furry. Something _alive._

"What-?" He glanced down.

"Is anything wrong, Mr Weasley?"

"N-no, Professor. I just dropped my wand."

"Well, be more careful next time." She turned away to answer a question from Angelina.

What on earth was Crookshanks doing here? Why was he here?

Fred bent down on pretence of retrieving something form his bag. He offered his hand out to the ginger cat- _he must be part kneazle,_ Fred thought (not for the first time) - and was surprised when the cat prowled closer and nuzzled it, offering his collar to Fred. There was a note attached. Wait- not just one, but two. Each addressed to a different twin.

Fred hurriedly pulled both the notes from Crookshanks collar and handed the other note to his brother. He sat staring at the scrap of parchment with his name: _Frederick F** Weasley,_ written in neat, bottle green cursive. There was only one person this note could have come from.

 _Hermione._

His hands shook as he split the seal holding the parchment shut. **_Dear Fred,_** he read.

 ** _I did not see you at breakfast this morning-_** so she had noticed his absence, he thought **-** ** _and I wanted to thank you for your actions last night. I left the library too late to reach Gryffindor Tower before curfew, and I am thankful that your presence last night spared me punishment or detention._**

 ** _I sent this note with Crookshanks once I realised that you would miss the normal morning post. I hope that he does not disturb your lesson. He seems to like you. I guess cats have good taste._**

 ** _If there is anything I can do, please ask._**

 ** _Thank you,_**

 ** _Hermione J Granger._**

Fred stared at the name written at the bottom of the parchment. Hermione noticed him. Hermione thought to write to him. Hermione thought that liking him was 'good taste'.

Wait. He mustn't over analyse the situation.

"George, what did yours say?"

His twin shrugged. He showed the note to Fred, who say that it only displayed a few lines, thanking him for mending her books and bag, thus saving her from both Filch, her teachers and Madam Pince.

"What about yours?" George asked.

"Just the same. Thanks and all that."

George scanned his twins face, noting the blush that was creeping up from under his collar, and the slight grin.

"Yeah, right-"

"MR WEASLEY, WILL YOU PLEASE FOCUS ON YOUR WORK, AND NOT TALK TO YOUR BROTHER ABOUT IT."

Even though McGonagall had just admonished him, even though the class was now staring at him, even though his brother was giving him an 'I know what you're hiding' grin, Fred smiled.

 _Hermione might like him._

 _*Tapers are small, tapering (obviously) candles. They are referenced in one of the books to have a bluish-light. Fred's reference to his hands was that since they are enchanted to keep burning, his hands got rather burnt from hot wax._

 _**The F is reference to the unmentioned middle name of Fred. It is suggested that his is Fabian, which I quite like, so decided to include it._


	3. Chapter 3

It's me again. This is a little bit of a filler chapter, I'm afraid. Sorry!

~Phantombookworm

Hermione, alone for a moment in an empty classroom on the fourth floor, checked her watch as she pulled out the fine chain of her time-turner. It was now fifteen minutes past five, just after her last lesson. She would have to turn it back one more time to attend her final arithmancy lesson of the day. From her bag Hermione pulled an apple that she had obtained at lunch and bit hungrily into it. All these extra lessons meant that she had to do the school day over two or three times every day, meaning she often found herself hungry at odd moments- like halfway through second period, which was actually her fourth or sometimes sixth lesson of the day.

Finishing the fruit, Hermione threw the core into the bin by the door and stood, bag over one shoulder, arithmancy book under her arm. She held up the tiny sand-timer that was attached to the fine chain and, very carefully, turned it once fully, and then another half turn.

Hermione always chose this classroom for time-turning in as it was always empty all the way through the day. It meant she didn't have the risk of appearing halfway through a lesson. _That_ might have been difficult to explain.

Fred walked into the classroom just in time to see Hermione vanish from sight. He shook his head, blinking, and looked again. No, she definitely wasn't there. How bizarre.

Crookshanks though, had been tailing him all day. He followed Fred as he sat down against the wall and curled up in his lap. George, too, walked in and sat himself next to his twin.

"What's up with the cat?" George asked. "He's been following you all day!"

"I dunno," Fred replied. "Maybe he wants a reply for Hermione?"

"Perhaps. You could try it."

Fred pulled out a crumpled piece of parchment from one pocket and a battered-looking quill and a small bottle of bright blue ink from the other.

"Dear Hermione…" Fred said has he wrote.

"Dear?" George snorted. "That's a bit possessive, isn't it?"

"It's what she wrote on mine, and anyway, that's how you start a letter!" Fred defended himself.

 ** _Dear Hermione_**

 ** _I am glad that you reached Gryffindor Tower without further mishap, and avoided detention. I did not realise that Crookshanks was trained to deliver messages. He has been following me around all day, hoping for an answer, I think._**

 ** _It was our pleasure to help you last night, and we couldn't leave a fellow Gryffindor in trouble- not when we could prevent it._**

 ** _Next time, you might want to either leave the library earlier or get a stronger bag!_**

 ** _From_**

 ** _Fred (and George) Weasley._**

 ** _PS. How did you know my middle name?_**

"That sounds okay," George said. He hadn't heard the postscript. "Not too obvious that you fancy her, anyway."

"George!" Fred sighed and folded the parchment. He sealed it with a tap of his wand and wrote on the outside: _Hermione J Granger._ What did the 'J' stand for? He shrugged. "Crooks, here," he murmured, brushing the furry cheek with a long index finger. The cat closed his yellow eyes and tilted his head back, offering Fred his collar again.

The Weasley tucked the note safely through a keyring on Crookshanks collar. "There. All done. Now go on, you daft ball of fur. Let us have some peace before dinner."

Crookshanks leapt off Fred's lap and padded towards the door. He glanced back, yellow eyes glowing briefly, before a flick of his bottle-brush tail and he was gone.

"Well, that's done." Fred sighed. "Now, what were you suggesting about Filch?"

George gave his twin an evil grin and started to speak.

Hermione finally left Professor Vector's classroom after her final lesson. She slowly made her way down to the Great Hall for dinner, her bag heavy on her shoulder. Another long day, over. And another pile of essays to do.

She made it to the Great Hall with a few others in her arithmancy class- Justin Finch-Fletchley, Terry Boot and Lisa Turpin. Ron and Harry weren't down from Professor I'm-a-fraud Trelawney's Divination class yet, which was a relief. She wanted to grab some more food for tomorrow without having to answer awkward questions.

Suddenly a loud purring noise emitted from the area by her knees. "Hey, Crookshanks," Hermione said softly. "What are you doing here?"

She glanced down the table at the Weasley twins, who had just sat down. Had they got her notes earlier? Lifting the ginger cat onto her lap, Hermione noticed a crumpled scrap of parchment with _Hermione J Granger_ scrawled across the front in bright blue ink.

She unrolled the note, smoothing out the folds with her hands.

 _Dear Hermione,_ it read.


	4. Chapter 4

I'M BACK DID YOU MISS ME? Sorry I haven't updated recently. Life has been crazy. Who am I kidding? I don't have a life.

~PhantomBookworm

Fred picked at his plate of chicken pie and mash, not feeling very hungry. George elbowed him.

"What's the matter, Freddie?" He whispered.

Fred sighed and shrugged. "Nothing." He loaded his fork and took a mouthful, not really tasting his food. Suddenly, he could feel someone watching him. The older Weasley twin glanced up to see Hermione hurriedly looking down at something that she held in her hands. He could also see a ginger tail brush against her arm as she flushed red, and then smiled. The younger witch looked up again, saw him staring at her and then quickly started eating her gammon and mash. She pulled off a piece of rind and gave it to Crookshanks, who leapt of the bench and padded toward the doorway, bottle-brush tail held high.

Fred cut another piece of pie and started to eat. Now, he could taste the flavours of the bacon, the chicken and the spices that the house-elves so masterfully put in all of their dishes. His shoulders felt a lot lighter, even if he still felt confused about what he had seen in the classroom earlier- when he thought he had seen her vanish suddenly.

The heat must have gotten to him.

"You go on ahead."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, Georgie. Go on. I'll catch up."

Fred watched his brother leave the hall with Lee, before turning and watching a head of bushy hair leave through the door that lead to the library stairs. Quickly, Fred followed before Hermione could vanish completely from sight.

Taking the stairs two at a time, he could see Hermione, already half a flight above him, lugging her repaired satchel full of books. _She's going to break it again,_ Fred thought.

Pulling back a tapestry, Fred jumped onto a staircase that immediately started to move, pushing him up the flight of stairs towards the library. He emerged from behind a set of armour just as he saw the sweep of a robe and flash of brown hair disappear through the library door. Catching the heavy door just before it swung shut, the fifth-year snuck through the door and behind the closest bookshelf. He started pulling books off the shelf, avoiding Madam Pince's sharp, curious gaze.

"Can I get these out, please?" A soft voice cut through Fred's silent musings. He turned away from Hermione and the librarian, glancing down at the books he had picked from the shelves. _Conjuring Nothing,_ by Benjamin Heron, and _Inanimate Conjuring: a guide,_ by Elaine Purton. He shrugged- he had McGonagall's homework to do, after all.

Picking up a stool with one hand, the Weasley twin moved his things to the nearest work table, careful to not scrape the brass feet of the stool on the floor- he had gotten a severe ear-lashing when he had last done that, which had ended in him and George being chased from the library by their books. He dumped his bag on the floor next to the table, rummaged for a quill and a length of rumpled parchment, and opened a bottle of ink.

 _Thud. Thud. Thu-thud._

Fred sat bolt upright, turning to his left. There, her head just visible over the pile of books that she had just placed on the desk, stood Hermione. He flushed pink, and raked a hand through his ginger hair before turning to smile at her.

"Hi, Hermione."

"Hey Fred. Don't usually see you here… without your twin?" She phrased it like a question.

"Without George, yes," he confirmed. Was that so odd? Fred thought. Maybe it was. What was that saying that Lee had picked up from the muggle side of his family? That the Weasley twins were like two halves of a whole idiot. Cheers, Lee. Shrugging off this thought, Fred picked up his quill again and wrote "Inanimatus Conjurus" at the top of his parchment in his characteristic scrawl. Underneath that he wrote his name. Then he put the quill down and sighed. What had he actually learned in that lesson? He didn't have a clue about this stupid spell.

"Fred? Are you okay?"

"Wha- oh, yeah, Hermione. I'm grand. Just don't feel like doing transfiguration tonight." Fred used both hands to ruffle his hair, distracted.

"Oohh, what are you doing?" Hermione asked eagerly, always desperate for knowledge.

"Inanimatus Conjurus."

"Oh, wow, that's really amazing magic, I mean it's supposed to be really difficult, isn't it? I've only read the theory, I haven't tried it yet, how do you do it?"

Fred glanced at her, amused at her enthusiasm. "Well, you have to focus on that one item you want to conjure, and then you have to visualize it in front of you and say the incantation. But I don't understand the theory behind it."

"If you teach me how to do the spell, I could teach you how the theory works? It's not as difficult as the transfiguring of animals, it doesn't violate Gamp's law at all-"

"Of course! Please, else McGonagall will kill me if this doesn't get done. O.W.L year and all that."

As the two teenagers huddled together, discussing the finer points of the spell, Madam Pince stared at them from behind a bookshelf bearing books on Arithmancy. _Weasley and Granger? Who would have thought? A troublemaker and a bookworm._ The librarian smiled to herself. _Maybe it will help both of them. It might calm Mr Weasley down enough to get his grades, but liven up Miss Granger and give her something else to think about rather than just school work. Goodness knows she does too much already._

Humming slightly to herself, pleased with the two teenagers sitting around the desk nearest the door, Madam Pince and her duster moved further along the rows of books, content, until- "YOU! CHEWING GUM. IN THE LIBRARY. OUT, OUT, OUT!"

The library had returned to normal.

A shadow fell over Fred's shoulder just as he dotted the final sentence on his third side of parchment. "The library is closing, Mr Weasley and Miss Granger."

"Oh, but we hadn't got to actually practise the-"

"Miss Granger-"

"It's okay Hermione." Fred smiled and rolled up his essay. "We can practise the spell in the common room. Might be easier there." To Madam Pince, he said, "Don't worry. I'll get her back before curfew."

"Thank you, Mr Weasley. Mr Filch was saying earlier how he thought he saw a student outside the library just after closing time and I was slightly concerned." Irma Pince smiled at her favourite student. "Now, Miss Granger, here is the book you reserved last week- it's just been returned. And-", the librarian glanced at her watch -"if you leave now, you'll be able to reach Gryffindor Tower before Argus starts his rounds."

"Thanks, Madam Pince," Hermione beamed, taking the book and gathering her belongings in her arms.

"Here, Hermione, let me take those. I have less books than you," Fred said, holding out his hand. The girl smiled uncertainly.

"Fred, I'm fine-"

Just then her satchel strap decided to make an ominous creaking sound. The Weasley raised an eyebrow at the sound.

"At least let me take your bag before it breaks again."

"Okay."

The brunette reluctantly relinquished her bag to the redhead, who slung it safely over his shoulder.

"Damn, Hermione, how many books have you got in here?"

"Just a few!" She answered defensively. By now they had left the library and was moving down the corridor-in the opposite direction to where the main stairs were. Fred pulled back a tapestry and started down the narrow passage. "Where are you going?" Hermione asked, confused. "The staircase is that way!"

"I know." Fred glanced over his shoulder. "But this way is quicker. You haven't found it yet? You're in the Library every day, and you haven't found the fastest way back to Gryffindor Tower yet?" He sounded surprised.

"Well, usually when I leave the Library it's almost curfew- I don't have time to keep looking around for secret passageways!"

Fred held up his hands in surrender. "I get your point. But this way is much quicker, and, Filch doesn't know about it. So, if you get caught short in the Library after hours, I suggest you use this passageway."

They had now reached a junction in the corridor. They took a left, then a right, where they reached a small room. Inside was a table, unlit lantern and a bronze statue of a rampart lion, secreted in a niche.

"Woah," Hermione breathed. "I had no idea this was here. And-" She moved closer to the wall. "Books!" She grinned. "What is this place?"

"This is just a room that George and I use from time to time if we need some space. Or if we're planning something. Or-"

Hermione laughed, her eyes alight with the image of Fred and George planning a prank on Filch or another hapless member of staff. "How did you find it? It's incredible!"

Fred flushed. "Well…." He started awkwardly, and then continued in a rush. "It was our first year. And Percy was being a right royal-"

"I can imagine," Hermione smiled with understanding. She and Percy got on okay, but she knew how much he managed to irritate the others.

"Yeah…. So George and I would follow him sometimes without him noticing, and I found the tapestry entrance when we were hiding from him. But we used to put ink pellets in his parchment or his textbooks… sometimes it would spell out random things… and once, we got some awesome stuff from Diagon Alley, that would cover ink so it would look blank-"

"What, like tipex?" Hermione asked, confused.

"Like what?" Fred tilted his head curiously.

"Give me my bag," Hermione asked him. Passing it over, he crouched on the floor next to her, bewildered. She rummaged in a pocket and brought out a small, white bottle and a piece of white parchment. "It's a white liquid that covers text. Look." Leaning the parchment on the floor, she unscrewed the cap of the bottle and dipped in the sponge brush, before drawing it across the surface of the parchment. "The only drawback is that it's white- it doesn't come in 'parchment' colour," she said wryly. "It works well for muggle paper and stuff though."

Fred took the bottle and stared at it curiously. "You could get it to change colour, though," he muttered. "If you could get it to match the colour of the parchment you'd be alright…." There was a spell, he knew, that could change the colour of liquids to mimic the surface they stood against. He shook his head. _I'll look it up in the morning._

"You could do that?" Hermione asked, excited. "Changing things with a charm- you know, the spell-check ones and stuff- is okay, but it doesn't always work correctly, and so you end up crossing it out anyway. I bought this-" she indicated the bottle "- in a muggle shop during the summer. I thought maybe it would work for parchment, if I could get it to change colour, obviously. I haven't managed to find the charm for it yet, unfortunately." She shrugged. "I've been busy."

"Yeah, you're taking all the subjects, aren't you? Well, apart from divination. Wonderful walkout there, by the way."

Hermione reddened. "You know about that?" She whispered.

"The whole school knows about it, and everybody has been wanting to congratulate you about it. Not many people have the nerve to stand up to that old fraud." He clapped a hand on her shoulder before offering her his hand. "We should get back to the common room before Filch is out on the prowl."

A/N: just a note. The passageways are completely made up. But I think it would be awesome if Howards had passageways within the walls, like some castles in Wales and England do. You could spend all day in such passages and get completely lost. I got the idea from Beaumaris Castle, in Wales. We ent there on holiday in the rain but it was still amazing. But I digress.

I also figured that Hermione must have brought some muggle stuff to Hogwarts. And probably still used it- She probably has pads of lined paper and lever arch files for each subject, ngl. It's Hermione, after all.


	5. Chapter 5

Hi! It's me again. This chapter isn't as long as the previous chapter, but it's longer than normal. I seem to have found my groove again, and I'm getting carried away. Thank you to everyone who reads and is kind enough to leave a review, especially ~flowerinthedistance! Thank you for your comments, I really appreciate it, and it gives me motivation to write. I love you all.

~Phantombookworm

The misfit pair scrambled through the portrait hole just a minute after curfew had gone for the third years. They had managed to traverse the length of the castle without leaving the maze of secret passages at all. George spotted his twin as he entered the common room, and raised an eyebrow as he realised that Fred was carrying Hermione's bag. _Will wonders never cease?_ George thought, shaking his head as he turned back to his Transfiguration work. _This is bloody difficult._ Rolling up his parchment, he put away his quill and pulled out a pack of exploding snap. "Lee?" He invited.

"Sure man, why not?" Lee stretched languorously, before shuffling his chair closer to the table and reaching for the pile of cards he had just been dealt. George glanced around at Fred, who was sitting at a table in the far corner, explaining something to Hermione. He shrugged and picked up his hand. _I hope everything's okay._

In the corner, Fred was explaining how to conjure an object from thin air. "What you're really doing is copying it from the image in your head, so make sure you concentrate. Else you could create a chair with three legs and no seat." He smiled. "George managed to create an ink well- except it had no base, so he ended up covered in blue ink. It was priceless."

Hermione nodded distractedly, her eyes shut as she envisaged the object she was trying to conjure up. Her mouth was screwed up in concentration, just the tip of her tongue peeking out as she frowned. _"Inanimatus Conjurus,"_ Hermione whispered, moving the tip of her wand through a graceful circle motion. A small _clink_ sounded, and her eyes flew open.

A bright blue bead edged with silver had appeared from thin air and had fallen softly onto the wooden desk. "I did it!" Hermione cried, exultant. "I did it! I did it!"

Fred couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah, you did." He chuckled. "A hell of a lot faster than I did, too." He was impressed. It was an O.W.L grade spell, and here Hermione had mastered it as fast as you please!

"Can I try again?"

"Of course- try something bigger, if you want."

A smile etched on her face, Hermione shut her eyes again. Fred couldn't help noticing that the silver-edged bead that she had conjured only moments before matched his eye colour exactly. But he was probably over assessing the situation, again. After all, it was the same colour as the ink in the bottle between them.

 _Thunk._ A thin, cylindrical object fell onto the table between the pair.

"What is _that?_ " Fred asked. The mystery object was perhaps six inches long, with silver at each end of it. The main part was patterned with marbled blue, and about an inch and a half from one end, another silver band ran around the cylinder. A sort of clip, again silver, was attached to the shorter part of the object.

Hermione picked it up, smiling. "It's a fountain pen."

"A _what_?" Confused, Fred reached for it. Hermione held it out to him, now warm with the heat of her hands. Turning it over and over in his hands, he found that the shorter part of the 'fountain pen' was separate to the rest of it. He unscrewed it to reveal a sharp, silver point. "Woah!"

Hermione chuckled and took the pen from Fred. "Look, you write with it. It's like a quill. Without the feather."

"How does it work?"

The young witch unscrewed the grip behind the pointy silver part of the pen to show a small bottle of ink. "It's an ink cartridge," she explained. "You can refill it from a bottle of ink, so you don't have to keep dipping the nib-" she indicated the silver pointed part "-into an inkwell. It's also easier to write with than having a face-full of feathers." She screwed the nib back into place and held out a hand to the redhead. "Lid, please."

Fred glanced down at his hand. He hadn't realised that he had still been holding the piece of metal that had unscrewed from the top of the pen. "Here," he said, passing it over. He couldn't resist another question. "What is that bit for?"

"It's to stop the ink from drying out. Like if you don't put the lid back on your ink bottle or something."

"Oh." Suddenly, he preferred the idea of the pen to a quill. It looked so much more substantial, and his quills were always breaking or twisting in his bag. On a whim, he asked "can I keep it?"

Hermione grinned, and handed the pen to him. "Sure. I prefer using one too." There was a twinkle of mischief in her eye and he realised that he must have voiced his musings out loud, rather than in his head as he thought. His ears burned red.

"Thanks, Hermione." He twirled the metal cylinder between his fingers, marvelling at the colour and the workmanship on the pen, before tucking it safely into his bag.

"No problem. Thanks for teaching me the spell." She glanced up and around the common room. Fred and herself, along with a few studying seventh years, were the only people left in the room. "What time is it?"

"Woah. Uhm, like almost eleven. How did it get that late?" Fred checked his watch, shocked. "I'd best be going to bed."

"Yeah, me too." Hermione glanced up at him as he stood awkwardly, one hand ruffling his ginger hair. Impulsively, she threw her arms around him, and whispered "Thanks."

Fred gently lowered his arms around her, hugging her gently. "It was nothing," he said. He moved his arms, and Hermione ducked away from him, her face burning as she retrieved her satchel.

"Night, Fred."

"Goodnight, Hermione."

Fred collapsed on his four-poster bed, fully robed. In his right hand he held the pen that Hermione had given him earlier, and his left hand was combing through his mop of hair.

His musings were cut short as his twin emerged from the bathroom. "So you finally decided to catch up?" George whispered, his voice slightly mocking, although with a joking tone.

"Sorry, mate. I didn't mean to-"

"That's okay, Freddie. You like her. You probably just got too enthusiastic in something, right?" George shrugged. "Did you do McGonagall's work?"

"Yeah. That's what we were talking about actually. I was in the Library. She helped me with the theory, so I taught her the spell. Seemed like a fair trade."

"Of course," George chuckled under his breath as he sat on the edge of his twins' bed. "How to get a bookworm 101- go to the library together."

"Hey!" Fred whispered back, mock indignant. He wasn't really annoyed with his twin- this gentle ribbing was part and parcel of having any sort of sibling.

"Go to sleep Freddie. She'll still be here in the morning. And we have Snape first thing, so don't oversleep again, okay?"

"Fine."

"Night, Forge."

"Night Gred."

Hermione had just emerged from the bathroom in her pyjamas, and in her hand she held the blue bead she had conjured- one that was the exact shade of blue as Fred's eyes. She didn't know if that was significant. She didn't understand her feelings at the moment. There was too much to do.

Pulling out a necklace from around her neck- not her time turner, that was kept safely tucked under her clothes unless she was about to use it- she undid it. It was a memory necklace, like a charm bracelet. When she was younger, her parents would get her a different bead for each of her birthdays. There was a dark purple one when she had turned ten, and a bronze one when she had received her letter for Hogwarts. Another bead, red and gold, commemorated her being sorted into Gryffindor in her first year. There was another bead, one with a tiny ginger cat charm attached, which she bought when she first got Crookshanks at the start of the summer. It was one bought in Diagon Alley, and so the cat would often wind around the bead it was attached to, and would curl up when it slept at night.

And now, Fred's bead joined those memories.

A/N- Just to say, I have read several opinions that say Fred's eye colour is brown, but I think blue suits him better. Call it artistic licence. Also, do you know how difficult it is to describe a regular, mundane object without actually using it's name? Try it, I challenge you.


	6. Chapter 6

This is kind of another filler but idk...

~Phantombookworm

Hermione tumbled out of bed, bushy hair a complete mess just as her alarm clock started to shrilly ring. Being one bought in Diagon Alley, it made noise only to the owner. But that noise was enough to give someone a sore head. Clamping a hand over the tinny, ringing bell attached to the top, she clambered upright, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. It was six in the morning, and she had work to do.

Pulling her robes over her head and a brush through her mass of curls, Hermione grabbed her stuffed satchel full of books and tiptoed from the dormitory, filled with sleeping girls. Stifling a yawn, she entered the common room, followed by a purring Crookshanks, who had spent the night curled at her feet.

"C'mon, Crooks," she muttered, putting down the cat's bowl of dried food, followed by another bowl filled with water. The feline rubbed himself around her ankles once, before turning his attention to his breakfast.

Settling down at the table that she and Fred had occupied last night, Hermione pulled out her Arithmancy work. Rummaging in her bag, she found her bottle of ink and a quill- she had forgotten to pack her pen when she left for school in September. _I could just conjure another one,_ she thought, remembering last night. Reassured by that thought, and eager to practise the spell again, Hermione reached for her wand.

 _Thunk._

Her hazel eyes flew open in surprise. That was a lot faster than it had been last night, and the results were equally impressive. A pen had thudded softly onto her Arithmancy notes. This one, however, was different. It was banded with rose gold instead of silver, and the barrel of the pen was a marbled bottle green. It was also a slightly different shape to the one she had given Fred- instead of having a straight-sided barrel, hers was curved, which fitted her hand exactly. Satisfied, she smiled, tucked her wand back up her sleeve, and started to write out a complicated number chart.

She didn't notice the sun slowly creeping over the windowsill. She didn't notice the noises that heralded movement above her head. She didn't even notice the first early risers that came yawning down the stairs in search of sustenance.

As she turned over another piece of parchment in order to continue the confusing calculations, she noticed finally that the common room was slowly filling up. Glancing at her watch, Hermione realised that breakfast started in ten minutes.

"Hey, Hermione."

She jumped, turning in her chair to answer the familiar voice. "Morning Harry."

He took a seat next to her. "Did you even go to bed last night?"

"Yes!" Hermione squeaked defiantly, reaching to take her Arithmancy textbook.

"I don't know how you can possibly like that subject, it looks awful."

Paying no notice, Hermione rolled up her calculations and number chart and put them in her already straining bag. She shut the Arithmancy book and tucked it safely under her arm. "Breakfast?"

"You go. I said I'd wait for Ron."

"I'll save you a seat."

"Thanks, Hermione. We've got Hagrid first, right?"

"Yeah. I wonder how the Flobberworms are."

Harry shuddered. "At least it's better than him getting us to train dragons to dance or something stupid."

"I have a feeling that might have been more interesting though."

Harry laughed. "Go on, get some breakfast Hermione. I'll see you in a minute."

Hermione left him standing in the corner of the common room looking awkward and alone, as she hurried down towards the Great Hall

"Hey, Hermione."

"Hi Dean, Neville." She slotted in beside them on the bench and reached for the basket of rolls on the table.

"Where's Harry?"

Hermione shrugged. "Waiting for Ronald."

Dean laughed. "He's going to be ages then. Ron was just waking up when we left. Jam?"

"Thanks Dean." Hermione took the proffered jar and liberally spread her roll with strawberry jam. Opening her Muggle studies book, she started to read.

"Morning all," a voice said, as a warm body- or three- slotted in beside the third years.

A grin quirked up the corner of Hermione's mouth. "Morning, Fred, George, Lee."

"Hey, Neville, pass the bacon, will you?" George leant forward, around his twin as the younger student shakily passed the plate along the table. Lee rescued the platter before it went crashing onto the table.

"Cheers."

The fifth years ravenously started to eat as if they'd never see food again. Hermione took another bite of her roll and turned back to her textbook.

"Hey guys," Harry said, arriving to a basket containing two rolls and a platter that only bore the traces of bacon fat to remind them of the food that had just been decimated. He shrugged philosophically. "Guess it'll be toast this morning."

"Oi, guys, where's all the bacon gone?"

"You should wake up earlier then, Ronniekins, if you want breakfast." George lazily lobbed the last roll at him.

"Hey!"

"What?" George looked innocent. "Did you want pumpkin juice with that?"

"Oh, shut up."

The rest of the group burst into laughter as George threatened to send a glass of pumpkin juice over Ron's head with a wave of his wand.

Under cover of the good natured bickering Hermione had managed to sneak two rolls into her bag. _That should do for the morning._ "Lee, could you pass the fruit, please?"

The bowl came flying down the table with such speed that Hermione was terrified it was going to smash into her- then Fred stuck out his hand and caught it with the unerring skill of a Quidditch player.

"Be careful Lee. Third years don't function well in the mornings."

Cue the annoyed response from Harry, Ron, Dean and Neville.

"Thanks, Fred," Hermione whispered.

"No problem."

She took an apple and bit into it, relishing the tart _crunch_ of the fruit. A mug of coffee appeared by her right elbow.

"I wanted one, so I assumed-"

Hermione took the mug thankfully. "Thanks, Harry." She took a deep draught, marvelling at the way it revitalised her body. Taking another apple and tucking it into her robe pocket, she glanced at her watch.

"What time is it?" Neville asked.

"Ten to."

"Awh," went the chorus around the table.

"Damn, we have Snape."

"Care of Magical Creatures."

Hermione drained her coffee and packed her Muggle Studies book back into her bag, and with the rest of the third years, stood to leave the table.

"Hermione!"

She turned around, looking at Fred.

"Do you want us to wait, Hermione?" Harry said.

"I'll catch up. Shouldn't be long."

Hermione moved back to the table, where Fred was standing. "Yes?"

"You dropped this."

He held out the fountain pen, and she took it gratefully.

"Thanks, Fred."

"Great spell work." He grinned. "I'll catch you later, okay?"

"Okay. Good luck with Snape, by the way."

The Weasley chuckled. "He doesn't mess with us too often. He knows that we can top him if we want to. The whole class is on our side, after all."

"True." Hermione glanced at her watch. "I've got to go."

"Bye Hermione."

"Bye Fred." She watched him leave before tuning to hurry after Harry and Ron.


	7. Chapter 7

Hey guys. I'm super sorry that I haven't updated for absolutely aaaaaaages, so here's another chapter. Have a happy new year! Thanks also to all those that have favourited and followed! ILY.

~Phantombookworm

"How were you able to write _three sides of parchment?_ " George asked his twin, disbelieving as they handed in their transfiguration essays at the end of the third lesson. "You had no idea what was happening last lesson!"

Fred shrugged, and spun his new pen around his fingers, a trick that he had already mastered. "Hermione explained the theory behind the spell a lot better that McGonagall did. It made more sense then, and then it was easy to write the essay."

"Okay, what have you done with Fred? Who are you, using polyjuice and impersonating my brother? You've been acting weird all day, and you've been writing with a metal stick and you've _written three sides of parchment overnight for a class you never pay attention in_."

"George, chill. It's not a 'metal stick' as you so crudely put it, it's called a fountain pen. It's a writing implement and it much more practical than a quill. Hermione conjured it last night when I taught her the spell, and so-"

"Of course. I'm losing my troublemaker twin for some third-year bookworm." George sounded almost resigned to the fact before he flared up again. "Get your act together, man! It's fifth year, we should-"

"Exactly, Georgie, it's fifth year. O.W.L year. I intend on leaving school with at least _some_ qualifications. And if the person I've found to help me isn't to your liking, then so be it! I'm not going to stop seeing her!"

George hit the stone wall of the corridor in frustration. "That's not my point, Freddie!"

"Then what is, George?"

He sighed. "I don't know. I just don't want things to change."

"Change isn't always a bad thing, George."

"It's not always a good thing, either." The twin sighed, then rummaged in his bag. "Chocolate frog?"

Fred took the proffered peace offering gladly. "Cheers man." He knew the discussion wasn't over, but that his twin didn't want a fight right now. He offered another one. "Hey, do you reckon we can get away with pranking Trelawney?"

"What do you want to do?"

Hermione came out of arithmancy with the rest of her class before heading towards her time-turning classroom. She had muggle studies next, and would have had divination too. _Do I go back anyway? I have so many essays to do…_ she sighed. But if she went back an hour to do her homework projects, she couldn't go to the library, or the common room. Someone would notice- and Madam Pince would probably have ended up going to Professor McGonagall about her skipping a lesson, and there goes her time-turner. It wasn't worth it.

She noticed that she was fiddling with her bead necklace, especially the bright blue bead that she had conjured the evening before. _That's it!_ The small room that Fred had shown her by the library- no teachers, no students, and plenty of space to think and work. _Perfect_.

"So, just before lunch, right?"

"Yep. Means we'll have to skip a History of Magic though."

"Thank goodness for that. After Snape, and Trelawney, I think we can skip Binns."

Fred grinned at his twin. "Might as well set up now, don't you think?"

"Sure. You go grab that darkness powder we got through Zonko's, it's really great. We're going to have to see if we can import it ourselves, because that box made a dent in our savings the size of Snape's nose."

"I'll meet you behind the statue of the Gnome, okay?"

George nodded, then hurried towards the divination tower. Fred watched him go, and then turned to pull back the tapestry that led to the tiny room near the library where they hid the more interesting parts of their stash.

His hand trailed over the cold stone walls as he hurried down the passageway. Then, to his surprise, he noticed a flicker of lamplight coming from the room, bouncing off the damp walls to create interesting shadows. _Who-?_ Fred stopped just in the doorway, his hand on the frame as he peered into the murky room. He sighed. There, in the corner, head buried into a book, with parchment an inch deep on the floor, sat none other than-

"Hermione?"

The girl looked up with a gasp and slammed her charms book shut, hurriedly gathering her things around her.

Putting out a hand to stop her, Fred moved towards her. "No, don't worry, it's only me." He glanced at the mound of essays next to her, and raised an eyebrow. "How long have you been here, exactly?"

"Uhm-" She couldn't tell him that she'd turned back to have three extra hours, he'd think she was insane. Or worse, skipping lessons. She couldn't do it, she couldn't-

"Hermione?" The redhead knelt next to her, concerned at her panic. "This would have been your divination lesson, right?"

"Yes!" Relieved, she grabbed at the excuse. "It would have been, but I just wanted peace and quiet to get these finished, and-"

"It's okay," the boy laughed. "I understand. The common room can be pretty rowdy, right?" Standing up, he brushed down the front of his robes and moved towards one of the bookshelves. "But don't you have one of your extra lessons?"

"N-no," she squeaked. But fortunately Fred didn't hear the uncertainty in her voice as she lied, as he was far more interested in tapping his wand rhythmically on the spine of one of the old books that was on the fifth shelf next to the niche containing the lion statue. "Fred? What are you-"

"Aha!" A triumphant smile on his face, the fifth year took a step back as the entire bookcase swung forward incredibly fast, without so much as a groan. He disappeared into the gloom, holding an illuminated wand aloft. Curious, Hermione got to her feet and lingered in the spot where the bookshelf had swung open. Fred's disembodied voice floated to her from within the darkness.

"Unless you want to get squished by the shelf, I suggest you come in."

Nervously glancing back at the shelf, which indeed started to creep back towards the wall, Hermione held her breath and plunged after Fred, into the darkness.


	8. Chapter 8

Wow, I'm feeling generous. Or really guilty that I kept you all waiting for absolutely aaaages. So have another chapter, albiet a short one. It's going to start getting interesting! Please review!

~Phantombookworm

"F-F-Fred?" Hermione whispered. Her hand snuck to her left sleeve, to the hilt of her wand, prepared to draw it. A hand landed on her shoulder. Panicked, she screamed _"Abigo!"_

There was a muffled curse using a certain piece of Merlin's anatomy that Hermione had no wish to be further acquainted with as the person was flung backwards. Then her rational side of her head took over, and she clapped a hand over her mouth.

"Oh my goodness, Fred, I'm so sorry! Here- _lumos!"_ In the bright light of her wand, Hermione could make out the sprawled figure of the fifth-year on the floor. Grinning from ear to ear, he carefully straightened up, groaning slightly as he ruefully rubbed his backside.

"Jeez, Hermione!"

She could feel heat flooding her face and she stuttered as she tried to apologise. "I'm so s-sorry – it was the d-dark and I p-p-panicked and-"

"Hey, hey, hey!" Fred moved closer and cautiously wrapped his arms around the shaking girl. "Hey, it's okay. I scared you. I'm sorry. I'm fine, see? We always keep extra cushions in here because the floor is always so uncomfortable. But where did that spell come from?"

"Wh-what?" Hermione hiccupped.

"Abigo?" I've never heard that one before."

The girl glanced up, smiling. "I-it's one I found in an old school book. A really old one that's not on the syllabus any more. It used to be one of the spells for Defence, and used to be quite common in duels and stuff."

Fred laughed. "Trust you to find spells in out of date school books." He moved back. "Better?"

"Yeah, thanks Fred. I'm sorry."

He waved a dismissive hand. "Don't worry about it. _Optio."_ A ball of light appeared at the end of Fred's outstretched wand and moved to float just above his head, causing strange, blue, flickering shadows to be cast around the small room. "Welcome, Hermione, to The Stash."

"The stash?"

He shook his head. "No. _The Stash._ You have to capitalise it."

"Oh."

Fred grinned at her confusion, and pulled her gently by the hand further into the broom-closet of a room. "This is where all our super-secret stuff that we don't want Filch to find- or the house elves, on an inspection- gets, well, stashed."

"Inventive name," Hermione laughed.

"Ha! Inventive names are for Ravenclaws. Gryffindors just go with the logical, self-explanatory ones."

The third-year moved closer to the shelves. "Some of this stuff looks really old. Look- the date on this box of bubble powder is from about 20 years ago."

"Ah, I forgot we had bubble powder. We put some in the Prefect's bathroom once, when Percy went in there one evening. He spouted foaming bubbles for the next fortnight. It was the most peaceful time we've had…" Fred shook his head. "My guess is that the Marauders left it here for the next generation of pranksters."

"Marauders? Who-?"

"I'll tell you later," Fred assured her. "Right now, I need this-" he picked a dark carton of some description off a shelf- "and these-" he pointed his wand at a box containing something that looked suspiciously like planets (however bizarre that seemed) which immediately shrunk. Stuffing them both in a pocket, Fred turned back towards the door.

"What are you going to do?"

The reply was tossed carelessly over the tall boy's shoulder as he tapped the bookshelf-door. "I'm going to prank Trelawney for you."


	9. Chapter 9

Hey everybody! I've been thinking a lot about this, so I'm posting it now. Also, I'm taking suggestions for any other pranks from the twins, if you you have suggestions and don't mind me using them!

ILY

~Phantombookworm

George peeped out from the statue as he heard footsteps approach. Recognising his brother's gait, he stepped out from the niche. "Great Merlin, what were you doing? You took ages!"

His brother shrugged, and handed over the carton of powder and the shrunken box of planets. "It took me a while to get the sequence right again. You keep changing the password." George noticed the way he smiled, and the rueful way he straightened up, as if his back was bruised. _Password took ages, my arse._

He raised a disbelieving eyebrow but decided to let the matter drop. "So, in about five minutes, the lesson's going to start…"

The twins snuck into the Divination classroom and huddled in the shadows at the back of the room. Next, the fourth-years would be starting astrology, and Trelawney always started that _particular_ lesson with a practical example.

As the bell went, Fred muttered a disillusionment charm- one that he had found whilst researching invisibility to avoid Filch, actually- and both he and his twin melted into the shadows just as the Ravenclaws started to climb into the stuffy classroom. Fighting back a laugh, he noticed how the contingent of Ravenclaws that believed in the dubious 'art' of Divination was so small that they shared a class with their Slytherin counterparts.

"Good day, my dears," a soft, mystical voice appeared from the gloom near the fireplace.

"Hello, Professor Trelawney," a few Ravenclaws murmured back. _Enthusiastic, much?_ Fred thought, sharing a glance with his twin.

"Today we will be starting the esteemed and precise art of _astrology._ " The murmurs stopped for a few seconds in the Slytherin corner, and then resumed. "Lights, please, Du Pree."

A tiny Slytherin boy stood up and slouched towards the light controls by the door. Before he could reach it, however, George threw a fistful of darkness powder into the air.

The muttering stopped.

"Thank you, Du Pree." Trelawney seemed oblivious to the fact that her room was now, in fact, pitch black. "There are nine planets in our solar system, which I know you have covered with Professor Sinistra…"

Fred raised his wand, muttered a swift _"Engorgio,"_ and then levitated the glowing planet-like orbs into the air. One by one, they started to spin.

"What is this?" A panicked girl screamed. "What is-"

Fred loved this part of the plan, because Trelawney couldn't say that it wasn't her, else she expressed herself as a complete fraud. _And then that's where things get interesting._

 **"** **Don't worry."** George's magically enhanced voice filled the room like a whisper. Everybody heard, except Trelawney. And nobody wanted to say that they had heard it.

Trelawney was trying to continue with the lesson. A tremor in her voice, she said "the closest planets to us are Mars and Venus…" The planets indicated started to grow alarmingly. "Mars is the bringer of war, hardship, conflict, and is commonly associated with fire…" She trailed off, her eyes wide in her oversized bottle-glasses, alarmed. And for good reason, as the 'planet' depicting Mars began to pulse red.

 ** _"_** ** _Incendio."_**

The blaze that Mars gave out was quite astonishing, especially when you considered the dozen Filibuster Fireworks stuffed inside the orb. Sparks, tongues of coloured flame, and hailing showers of golden rain poured down, evaporating just inches above the heads of the students. Trelawney, standing up, was not so lucky.

 _"_ _Aaargh!"_

Her trailing scarves and the very ends of her hair were frazzled, sooty and slightly smoking. She collapsed onto a low armchair, and took a deep swig of what appeared to be house elf sherry, and hiccoughed, once.

 **"** **Next in the sequence we have Jupiter, named for the Roman God of thunder-"** George's voice echoed around the room as thunder boomed, the storm rolling around the ceiling. The orb for Jupiter also grew in size, as George continued. **"And the God of lightning,"** he added. Jupiter flashed once, brightly enough to sear the retinas so everybody saw stars, and then evaporated in another bright flash of gold.

 _"_ _Ohhh…"_ The shocked response from the students made Fred grin.

The colour of gold spread through the room, as the darkness lifted and it seemed like there was now a large number of students on pouffes (and a slightly tipsy teacher) stranded in a large cornfield. **"Saturn, the next planet, is named after the Roman God of farming…"** A brisk wind blew through the corn. **"He is also known as the bringer of old age…"**

George raised his wand, muttering a charm. Suddenly, all the students and Trelawney sprouted long, white flowing beards, and their hair turned through grey to a silvery-white. Each of the students turned to each other, starting to laugh. As some of the larger students began to make fun of the smaller ones that seemed to now be wrapped in silver hair, Fred muttered a small jinx that turned their new locks into rather interesting colours and shapes.

"Oi, Du Pree! Nice silver mohawk, mate!" Tony MacGuire grinned at his friend.

"Joanne! Your hair- it's bright orange!"

The Weasley twins were now doubled up with silent laughter at the back of the room as the chaos around them continued. Trelawney now had bright pink sparkly hair to join her smoking shawls, and several of the Slytherins were now dancing around indignantly as their hair turned through a rainbow of colours, each as lurid and fluorescent as the next.

George spoke again.

 ** _"_** ** _SILENCE._** **"** The classroom instantly grew silent, eyes watchful, and a new breeze echoed through the stone room. **"As we continue our journey, next is the planet Uranus."**

Several of the students- still with brightly coloured matching facial hair- sniggered.

 **"** **And just what do you think is so funny, Shane?"** The boy shook his head, petrified of the voice, clutching his hands over his now Snape-like locks. **"Uranus is named after the God of Magic…"** a purple, twining fog filled the room. **"He is also the God of the sky…"** the room again, went dark, as the planet Uranus exploded into many tiny fragments that studded the darkness like stars, which arranged themselves into constellations.

"Wicked." A Ravenclaw murmured to her friend.

 **"** **Neptune, the God of water, the oceans, horses…"** As George uttered those words, water seemed to fill the small tower room, the pouffes and armchairs now tiny boats on a wild sea. Several of the Ravenclaws started to look rather sick, and Trelawney was now a vivid shade of green, which clashed alarmingly with her hair. **"Also known as a mystic, a man of magic."** The facial hair disappeared from each of the students, but remained stubbornly attached to the face of the teacher. The colour faded from the hair, except instead there was an extraordinary amount of glitter. Every movement, and it cascaded down the shoulders of the student.

 **"** **Pluto, God of the underworld."** Fred threw another handful of darkness into the room, but each of the students shone as brightly as beacons in the darkness, glittering like tiny constellations. An ominous creaking echoed on the stonework, and several students screamed. **"He controlled skeletons, ghouls, and the undead."** A skeleton paused just in front of Rosalie, who looked on the verge of collapse. Fred was just about to usher it onwards, until a streak of purple light hit it square on the chest. Looking back in the direction of the spell, Fred could make out a trembling outline of Nicholas Shane, wand outstretched. None of the others could see him, because of the darkness powder, but it was reassuring to know that Slytherins didn't just care for themselves.

Trelawney now stood, shakily. "A-a-and that is the e-e-end of t-t-that lesson, my d-d-dears." She collapsed against the cushions on her chair and took a deep draught of sherry.

 _Old fraud,_ Fred thought scornfully. _She can keep the hair._

The students were now starting to fumble their ways to the trap door. One almost fell through it. _"Optio,"_ Fred muttered, causing a floating bulb of bright light to float above the trapdoor so no one broke their necks.

"Rosalie?"

"Nicholas?"

"Are you okay?"

"Thank you."

It was a civil enough conversation, but miles of meaning and concern lay beneath the surface. Nicholas was about to say something, when-

"Oi, Shane!"

He sighed. "Coming, Tony." He squeezed the Ravenclaws hand, and then hurried after his friend as he fumbled on the rope ladder.

Fred smiled, and his brother tapped his shoulder.

"That went well," George said, his voice returned to normal."

"Yeah," Fred replied, still watching the Ravenclaw girl, who was staring at the spot where Nicholas had vanished. He turned to his brother. "It went brilliant." _Earned you back some, Hermione._


	10. Chapter 10

Hi everyone. Sorry I've got a bit lax with the updating again, I've got super caught up with school work and uni applications and EPQ deadlines... #stuggles. Anyone from Exeter or Southampton University here? Haha. Anyways, here's another chapter.

~Phantombookworm

Hermione was late down to dinner that evening. She'd been caught up after Defence, and needed to clarify something with Professor Lupin. Exhausted, with dark rings around her eyes and books tucked safely into her schoolbag, and quietly elated at the fact that she had managed to catch up with her essays, she stumbled through the doors of the Great Hall with her head down. As a result, her eyes focussed slowly onto the deep trails of glitter leading to the Slytherin and Ravenclaw tables.

"What-?"

"Hermione!" Harry was waving frantically to her over the heads of the Hufflepuffs. Threading her way through the shining tell-tale trails, Hermione slotted herself in between Harry and Fred. The bespectacled boy turned to her. "Have you seen the Slytherins? This is hilarious!"

"Okay, what has happened?" Hermione slid her bag under the desk and reached for a serving of minestrone soup, and a slice of thick, white crusty bread.

"Apparently someone pranked the Ravenclaws and Slytherins in Divination, and-"

Hermione tuned out the rest of what Ron was saying, and turned to the fifth year next to her. "This wasn't your doing, by any chance, was it, Fred?" She whispered.

The boy turned to her with his best innocent face. "Who, us?" She stared at him, taking in the wide blue eyes, and the straight mouth. And then the corner of his lip twitched. And his mouth crookedly screwed itself into a smile, and then stretched itself into Fred's trademark, lopsided grin. "Okay, yes, it was us! But have you seen Trelawney yet?"

"Oh, Fred you didn't-" and then Hermione glanced over his shoulder at the head table, and could not control her giggles. "Her hair-" She convulsed again, gasping for breath as she kept laughing. She could feel Harry next to her also turn towards the staff table and then double up laughing. "Is that a _beard_ , Fred?"

"Yep."

Hermione laughed harder, now silently, with tears streaming down her face. She _could not_ stop laughing. Breathless, she reached for a glass of water and took a mouthful, before dragging the cuff of her rode across her cheeks.

"We figured it was time that she got humiliated for once, instead of her doing it to other people." George, opposite, shrugged as he winked at her, before grabbing another hunk of bread off the golden platter in front of him.

Taking a deep breath, Hermione pulled her bowl of soup towards her but then-

 _"_ _Hic."_

"Hermione, have you got hiccups?" Ron asked, trying desperately- and failing miserably- to keep a straight face.

"No, of cour- _hic._ " Hermione rolled her eyes at the boys, who all started to laugh. "Stop, it's not- _hic-_ funny." Pulling her wand from her sleeve, she suddenly saw that all the boys suddenly froze, staring warily at her. "What? I'm just- _hic-_ oh, for the love of- _hic-_ Merlin! _Singulta!"_

Her hiccups suddenly stopped, and Hermione was suddenly very glad that she'd borrowed the book _Magical Minor Remedies_ from Molly over the summer _._ A sigh went up from Ron, who seemed rather put out that his entertainment had ceased. Murmuring _"singulto,"_ and gesturing at Ron under the table, he was suddenly infected with seemingly seriously contagious hiccups.

"Have you got hiccups, Ronald?" Hermione asked sweetly.

Fred winked at her, grinning as she blushed, whilst the others roared with laughter. Turning back to her meal, Hermione concentrated on the Potions book in front of her, occasionally hearing a dejected hiccup from across the table.

"Oh shut _up_ , Ron," Harry sighed as another dismal _hic_ could be heard. "Hermione, could you-?"

 _"_ _Singulta."_

"Thanks, Hermione." Harry glared at Ron.

"Yeah, cheers, 'Mione." Ron slurped down another mouthful of oxtail soup, seemingly unrepentant.

"So who are the Marauders?" Hermione nudged Fred as he got up to leave the table.

Fred glanced at his twin, who shrugged and turned towards the doorway that lead towards the Gryffindor Common Room, accompanied by Lee, Seamus and Dean. The shrug from his twin seemed to make up Fred's mind, and he turned towards the Library. "C'mon," he said, tugging Hermione along up from the bench and towards the door.

Five breathless minutes later, Hermione set down her heavy satchel in the hidden room by the Library. "Fred, why-"

"Shush," the boy said, already pulling a piece of parchment out of his pocket. Sitting down on the floor, with a lantern next to him, he gestured for Hermione to join him.

Obedient, Hermione sat next to the red-head, the lantern between them.

"The Marauders went to Hogwarts around 20 years ago. They were the ultimate pranksters, and half of the items you see in The Stash used to belong to them. There's a logbook in there, detailing each of those pranks and tricks." Fred smiled. "They're something else."

"But who were they?" Hermione asked, desperate to know.

Fred lifted the piece of parchment, and, drawing his wand, tapped the parchment and muttered "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

And before her very eyes, ink began to bloom across the surface of the once-blank parchment, a dark, rich red. And it read-

"Messer's Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs are proud to present the Marauders Map." Fred looked proudly at the map. "It's pure gold, and that's how we know all the secret passage ways."

"Can I-?"

"Sure." Fred handed the map over to an eager Hermione, who opened it and gasped.

"It shows _everything._ "

"And everyone."

"Everyone?"

Fred nodded. "And what they're doing every minute of every day."

Hermione bit her lip. How closely did the Weasley twins watch the map? Were they able to see that there were two- or sometimes three- Hermione Grangers running around the castle? _This could be the moment where my time-turner licence gets revoked,_ Hermione thought, panicked. "Do you- do you use it often?" She asked, nonchalantly, examining the magnified part that showed Gryffindor tower Gryffindor Common Room, where she could see Harry and Ron in the armchairs by the fire.

"We know a lot of it now by heart, so we don't use it too often. But if we do we have to be careful not to let Filch see us with it- we nicked it from him back in first year."

"But how would you hide it if he asked you to turn out your pockets?" Hermione asked, turning the parchment over in her hands, examining the oddly familiar handwriting that labelled each dot, each corridor and each room, down to the very one they were sitting in right now.

Fred touched his wand to the parchment again, and said "mischief managed."

The ink looked like it was being dissolved, absorbed by the parchment until nothing was left. You could have stared at it for any length of time and not noticed that it was in fact a magical map. "That's incredible," Hermione said softly, folding the parchment, and handed it back to the red head, who looked at her curiously before tucking it safely back in the pocket of his robes.


	11. Chapter 11

_Hi everyone! I'm back again. I'm sorry I've neglected you guys so much, so here's a nice group chapter. I promise I'll try to update more regularly, as my uni timetable is more flexible than my A level one was. I passed everything, btw, in case you wondered, so I'll be studying Marine Biology at the Uni of Exeter next week :) . So excited!_

 _So yeah, here's another chapter. Hope you like, and I'm so thankful for everyone who has followed/favourited/reviewed whilst I have been AWOL. Please, as always, read and review. I'd love to see what you think!_

 _~PhantomBookworm_

As it approached Halloween, Hermione and Fred spent more and more time together in the hidden room, library, or huddled at one of the common room tables pouring over homework and obscure spell-books that Hermione had unearthed from the dark corners of the Restricted Section, with the help of an oddly approving Madam Pince. Although disproving of the twins attitude to learning and their aim to disrupt lessons, the witch had to admit to being impressed at their use of magic to found their pranks, and thus spent even more time researching out-of-date charms and spells that she thought the pair would appreciate or could use. And she had to say that her own schoolwork and magic technique had improved drastically as a result of Fred's OWL knowledge, and that the twins were not getting as many detentions or points docked because of missed deadlines or shoddy homework.

Everyone seemed content, even with the looming threat of the mass-murderer Sirius Black on the loose. Harry and Ron, for once, looked vaguely industrious as they sat in front of the fire doing work.

"I still can't believe you go to that old fraud's lessons, Harry," Hermione said as she scribbled down another calculation.

Harry grinned. "I'm surprised it took you more than one lesson to walk out, to be fair, Hermione. As soon as she said 'there is only so much you can learn from books' I thought that was it. It was when she told you that you were 'far too narrow minded' though, that's what got you to leave."

"Still won that bet though, mate. I thought she'd last until at least after Christmas." Ron crossed out a scrawled sentence, frowning.

"You… bet on me?" Hermione asked, confused and slightly insulted.

"Yeah, six whole sickles. Clearly I need to brush up on my Divination to win bets, not lose them." Ron put down his quill, satisfied. "Done."

George snagged his younger brothers parchment. "I wouldn't want to bet on any of this though, mate. You're drowning twice in the next month, and then being eaten by a dragon."

The rest of the table sniggered as Ron flushed red. "So? I'll change one of my drownings to being mauled by a Hippogriff, as long as it's miserable, I'll get a decent grade from Trelawney." He shrugged non-committedly, his ears still burning.

Fred nodded. "Ah, now we know why you turn up to those lessons. It's an easy pass, isn't it, mate?"

"No!" Ron retorted, blushing furiously.

Harry chortled. "It's all right, Ron. It's not like we could understand Arithmancy or Ancient Runes. They're for smart people, like Ravenclaws and Hermione."

Hermione smiled briefly at the compliment before rolling up her calculation sheet and sealing it with a tap of her wand. She tucked it safely into her bag, before pulling out her Care of Magical Creatures book. After Hagrid had told them how to treat the temperamental textbook, hers had become so friendly that it only snapped when something was poured over it or its pages became creased. Opening the book to the page detailing Hippogriffs, she started to draw a diagram of the creature.

"Wait, we had Magical Creatures homework?" Ron asked, dismayed. From his position on the floor, Harry rolled his eyes at his best friend, ostentatiously flourishing his quill over the diagram that he too, was copying. His book, whilst better behaved than most, was still weighted down with spare textbooks in case it felt snappy.

Ron sighed and sadly stood up to retrieve his book from his trunk. The others watched him go. "Six sickles on him getting bitten," George called from the sofa.

Hermione sighed as Lee sent back a "you're on, mate." Boys. She shook her head as she labelled the talons of the Hippogriff. _Talons, eagle-like, up to half a foot long and ideal for maiming or killing its prey or victims, usually those who do not respect it-_

A strangled shriek came down the boy's staircase and hurried footsteps sounded from above. Hermione's hand jolted, spilling George's ink bottle over her textbook.

"Argh!"

Hermione's Monster Book of Monsters snapped to life, fixing itself on the nearest living thing that could be responsible for its soaking.

A curse came from Fred as the book clamped down on his arm. These books were really more trouble than they were worth, and as they were especially stubborn to being removed by force of hand or by disarming spells, were tricky to dislodge. _Would it work?_ Fred wondered, quickly grabbing his wand. His twin brother was laughing his arse off with Lee whilst Harry was attempting to subdue his own startled book by piling more textbooks on top of it.

 _"_ _Abigo!"_ two voices cried as one.

The textbook was blown from Fred arm and ricocheted across the common room, mournfully snapping at students below.

"Um, thanks, Hermione," Fred breathed, massaging his mangled arm.

"Fred I'm so sorry!" She cried, hands across her mouth, eyes concerned.

"Seriously, it's not your fault, Hermione. It's just what that book _does._ " He shrugged. _"Accio book."_

The snapping textbook soared gracefully across the room once more, hovering in front of the Weasley. Giving the book a stern glare, he flicked it open to the ink-soaked page, and muttered _"tergeo,"_ siphoning off the slowly drying fluid. He quickly thumbed through the book, making sure he had removed all of the blue ink. Shutting the tome, he ran a hand down the spine and grinned as he heard a reverberating purr.

Hermione looked at him, amazed at the sound, before Fred handed back her textbook. "How did- why- how?"

Fred laughed. "Slow down, Mi, and you might be able to form a whole question."

"Thanks, Fred," Hermione grinned at him, blushing. "Is your arm okay?"

He shrugged his shoulders, tugging his robe sleeve back up to his elbow. Dark purple and blue bruises covered his forearm, and where the book's fang-like clasp had broken the skin, there was a dark line of blood. Fred bit his lip. It did kind of hurt.

"Merlin's pants," George breathed, seeing his brother's arm. He and Lee had helped Harry to calm down his unruly school book, and were now mopping up the rest of the spilled ink.

"Here, sit down," Hermione said to Fred, drawing her wand again. His eyebrow raised, he tucked his arm against safely him.

"It'll be fine, Mi, it'll heal in a couple of days-"

"Shh!" Hermione snapped, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration. "It was my book, you think I'm going to let you walk around with a bleeding arm for a fortnight? You've got to be kidding! Now give me your arm and _sit down!"_

Fred sat.

Cradling his forearm in her left hand, she inspected the injury. _Not too deep…_ she thought. _Good._ Her wand almost touching Fred's mottled skin, Hermione rolled the length of vine wood between her thumb and forefinger, thinking hard. How would you conjugate the Latin… ah!

 _"_ _Curare cubitum!"_

She gently touched the tip of her wand to Fred's skin, sweeping it the length of the wound. And in the trail of her wand, clear, healthy pink skin rose, replacing the darkened, damaged layer. It was like watching an eraser cut through a layer of pencil markings, or running a finger through chalk dust. The edges of the puncture wound knitted together, leaving only a tiny, faded scar.

"What even..."

Fred stared between his arm and Hermione, shocked. "Hermione, how…?"

Words failed, and he just stared, open mouthed. Suppressing a chuckle, Hermione flushed. "It was nothing, honestly," she muttered, bright pink. "Sorry for yelling at- oof!"

Fred swept her up in his arms in a huge bear hug. "Thanks Mi!"

"No… problem… can't… breathe…"

"Oh, sorry." He stepped back, still grinning, hair ruffled as though he'd just got back from Quidditch practice. There was a second of lingering eye contact just before Ron came blundering into the common room, cursing at the top of his voice, the Monster Book of Monsters clamped around both of his hands.

A chorus of sighs and groans came from the group around the fire as they moved to detach Ron from the book. George had a huge grin on his face. "Since it's both hands, does that make it twelve sickles to me?"

Lee rolled his eyes, groaning. "No way, mate," he said, struggling with the book.

"Awh, come on, Lee," George wheedled. "At least ten?"

"Only if you help get this damn thing off!"

Ron cursed again. "You guys bet on this?"

"Of course," Lee answered, affronted. He tugged again on the book, which growled and clamped tighter.

"Uh, help please, guys?" Ron cursed louder as he struggled to dislodge his wrists.

Fred lifted his wand and said _"abigo."_ The book fell to the floor, but not without hitting Lee on the chin as it was forcibly removed by the spell. Ron rubbed his wrists gratefully, looking dishevelled and irritated.

"Cheers guys." Being Ron, and stubbornly lucky, his wrists had escaped with a light bruising, and he wasn't fussed at all by the incident. He was, of course, still disinclined to do work, but he settled comfortably down on the sofa once more and pulled a piece of parchment towards him.

The common room returned to its normal noise level as the chaos had now subsided. Lee rummaged in his pocket, and slowly handed over six sickles to George. The redhead smirked before turning back to his potions essay. Hermione sealed her now fully annotated diagram, and pulled out her Defence textbook. Fred absent-mindedly wrapped an arm around her shoulder as Hermione leaned comfortably against the older boy as she started to read.

 _So what did ya think? Also, what do you think to 'Mi'? I think it's cute for Fred to have a different nickname for Hermione than Ron and Harry, but thoughts appreciated. This chapter also addresses the fact that I screwed up my POA timings, as I had Hermione storming out of Divination way before Halloween, and it actually occurs at Easter. Sorry about that. But I think Hermione would be very, very tempted to drop the subject before Easter. Poetic licence. #excuseforeverything :D  
_


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